ISLAMABAD – After flirting with the idea of merely handing over a few governmental project to him, the government on Thursday decided to give complete charge of the Finance Ministry to Mir Mohammad Ali Khan, who goes by the drag name MAK.
Many see it as a surprise shuffle of the deck, given the powers that be in Pakistan have decided to remove Abdul Hafeez Shaikh as the Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance and replace him with MAK at a time when the economy appears to be on the mend.
However, government officials maintain that MAK’s experience as a fugitive in the United States, where he used to play Investment Banker on a reality show while actually laundering money for the mob, is critical for the most important movement of the ruling Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI): the accountability drive.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has hailed MAK’s expertise in handling large wads of cash overseas and expressed his full confidence in his acumen.
“Hiring MAK will deter the IMF from putting the squeeze when they are faced on the opposite end by the former Wolf of Wall Street. Also, this way we will not have to pay IMF’s money back,” PM Khan told the media.
Similarly, Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa has decided to let the matter go and not interfere. “Because that is what would happen in a Mario Puzo novel,” he clarified.
